


more than just a dream

by starryshoujo



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Crushes, F/M, Fluff and Angst, LOVE SQUARE WITH TWO PEOPLE WHO LOVE EACH OTHER A LOT, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 11:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5415299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryshoujo/pseuds/starryshoujo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrien tries to draw his crush/crime-fighting partner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	more than just a dream

Adrien’s notebook is full of half-finished sketches of Ladybug. Crouching on a rooftop, running across Paris in the dead of night, leaping some impossible distance, always in motion. To Nino, it’s just evidence of an embarrassing crush and vivid imagination. He doesn't know these are glimpses of his best friend’s double life as a flirtatious cat-boy. 

He tunes out the teacher’s lecture and begins to sketch uneasy lines. Maybe, just maybe, drawing her will make his affections more real. Everything seems flowing together into his best picture of her yet. It’s not like the others he’s tried; a portrait of her right after an akuma battle. She looks more lovely than he could’ve imagined when the stress melts away. Adrien daydreams about taking her on a date - as himself, without the mask. 

He would take her somewhere nice. Ladybug would like that. He imagines what she’s like as a civilian; probably still exceptionally kind, brave, and confident. They’d go somewhere nice, right by the Seine. Perhaps he’d take her to that bakery Marinette’s parents owned. It would be nice, eating croissants alone together as the sun set. 

He’s snapped out of his reverie when Nino nudges his shoulder. He jots down that night’s homework and pauses observe his work. Even with his meticulousness, something seems off. Ladybug’s smile is placid. There’s none of the emotion he hoped to capture. The wrongness of it makes Adrien remember why every promising doodle is scrapped; it’s just not her. He’s seen joy, and relief, and tiredness, even annoyance on her face, but never a vacuum. 

He should’ve asked the Evillustrator for advice when they fought. Chat Noir, hero of Paris, wouldn’t have been afraid to; he would even wink at Ladybug while saying it! She would scoff, and they would continue battling. None of that confidence creeps over once his transformation dissolves. He’s just the Agreste boy, only good at posing for photos. 

Adrien sighs, then turns the page to a clean sheet of paper. The image - although inaccurate and unworthy of his lady - is his own proof of their time together. As the end of class approaches, he finally begins to take notes.

Through all of this, he doesn’t notice the gaze of girl with pigtails sitting behind him.


End file.
